Hey everyone! As promised, here's my next chapter. I'm going to immediately begin on the next one, so I can remain on schedule. If I'm able to follow through, look for eight more chapters to be published this month. I'm pushing myself as hard as I can. This chapter kept me up late into the night, and it was quite difficult for me to generate ideas for these two characters' interactions. Hopefully it stacks up favorable to my other chapters so far. If you think that the characters were OOC or if you have any suggestions, feel free to PM me. As you may have noticed, I have decided to up the story rating due to the darker tone and theme. Don't worry though, it shouldn't get too bad. And, as always, please review!

Chapter 8: The Lady of Darkness

Kari and Sora were making good time as they hurried through the deserted streets of Odaiba. Biyomon flew overhead and Gatomon kept pace with them on the ground. The soft light of the street lamps set an odd mood, considering the grave nature of their mission. They glowed with their warm, cheerful yellow light, completely oblivious to the dire threat that had fallen upon the town. As the four scurried along, a question entered Sora's mind. "Why would these digimon attack now?" she questioned as they briskly continued along the road, "I mean, they've had seven years before this to make a move, but nothing's happened in all that time. Why now?"

"Who knows," replied Kari, "It's not like the digimon follow our time schedule. The evil digimon have always had a knack for causing trouble at the most inopportune moments."

"I think it's because they've spent the last few years preparing for this," Gatomon said, interjecting her own two cents into the discussion. "Back when I worked for Myotismon, I noticed that he was always very meticulous about his planning. He would spend years constructing plans and backup plans before he took important actions. Even when you all caught him by relative surprise, he took his time setting up his scheme to destroy you, while letting that flying bowling ball DemiDevimon distract you. He would have succeeded too, but he could never have foreseen that I was Kari's partner. Whoever is behind this probably has a similar personality style."

Sora nodded as Gatomon spoke, "I guess you have a point Gatomon. This guy must have taken his time on this because he knew how we'd defeated all of the other villains that have confronted us over the years, and he wanted to give himself as good of a chance as possible. It's just… it's a little difficult. I mean, Matt and I are getting married tomorrow, and I'm upset that this all had to happen tonight."

"Don't worry Sora," said Biyomon, as she flew closer to her partner, caressing her gently with her wing, "Everything's going to work out just fine, I'm sure. You guys have always been good at handling these things. This'll be over in no time, and your wedding will be just as you want it!"

Sora smiled, "You're right. I must be stressing a little too much. Besides, it wouldn't be my perfect wedding if you weren't here! I'm so glad that you'll be there!"

Biyomon smiled warmly as the group continued through the streets. After a while, Kari spoke softly, "Sora… what let you know that it was the right time to get married?"

Sora shrugged slightly, "I don't know. I just… knew when it was the right time. Matt and I had been going out for a long while, and we both had the financial means to support ourselves. But, that makes it sound lifeless and based on calculations and justifications. We both just seemed to know that the time was right. Why the sudden interest Kari?"

The younger brunette girl fidgeted slightly, "No reason. I was just… curious, that's all."

Gatomon piped up and asked a question of her own, "You humans can be so silly sometimes. I don't understand all of this fuss about marriage. What's so important or special about it?"

Sora frowned a little as she answered Gatomon's question, "Well, marriage is a commitment between two persons that says that they will love each other forever. It's hard to describe, but it's something that lets you know that the one you love and marry will always be there for you. They'll take care of you, even when things are rough, and they'll never leave you alone."

A dark cackle came from the shadows, following Sora's words. It was followed by a cold feminine voice, "My, wasn't that just so sweet. The little lovebirds almost make me want to spare their miserable lives."

Kari's eyes widened, then narrowed. "I recognize that voice," she muttered venomously. This was the third time that this voice had made an appearance for her, and nothing good ever came of it.

Out of the darkness stepped LadyDevimon, with a malicious smile on her face. "I had so hoped that you would come along," she said, "My master wanted me to keep you away, but I didn't know which of you humans I would encounter." She paused for a moment to increase the impact of her words before continuing. "It will be such a pleasure to finally destroy you," she said, before eyeing Gatomon with a look even crueler than the one that she normally sported, "Especially you."

Kari remembered LadyDevimon all too well, and had an idea of how to keep her off balance. She gave a light, but audible snort of contempt, then addressed the demon, "What makes you think that you can keep us out? We've beaten you twice before. We're just going to beat you again."

LadyDevimon's expression instantly changed to one of pure hatred. "Not this time," she hissed, "This time I will kill all of you. I wasted away for seven years as nothing but a cloud of formless data. Now, I finally get my chance at revenge." She brought her hand up to her chin, as if she was in deep thought. "Now, what should it be," she pondered aloud, "Shall I gut you like a fish, or burn you alive? Maybe I'll just bleed you to death. Decisions, decisions."

The girls' stomachs churned at the thought of LadyDevimon's myriad of horrific murder suggestions. "You're a twisted sicko, you psychotic witch!" shouted Kari.

The look of hatred on LadyDevimon's face intensified into rage at the girl's insult. "How dare you call me a witch!" she shrieked. She flew forward, intending to strangle Kari with her bare hands. She got to within ten feet before Gatomon blindsided her, striking her in the face with the holy ring on her tail. LadyDevimon gave a cry of pain as the ring's holy energy scalded her flesh, and swatted Gatomon with her left hand. Gatomon went sailing through the air, but landed firmly on her feet without any visible injuries.

Kari and Sora used the distraction to whip out their digivices. Biyomon was already in action, glowing in the light of digivolution as she expanded into her champion form of Birdramon. LadyDevimon saw what was happening and tried to intervene by launching a preemptive attack . "Evil Wing!" she proclaimed, as what appeared to be fiery bats shot out from her body and headed right towards Biyomon's changing form.

It was too late. Birdramon finished digivolving and soared away into the sky with a healthy safety cushion of several feet between her and the site of the attack's impact. After flying for about thirty yards, Birdramon whipped around and unleashed an attack of her own. Spreading her wings majestically, she called out, "Meteor Wing!" Two chunks of fiery rock appeared, one below each wing. As she flapped her wings forward, the projectiles went flashing out down towards LadyDevimon.

She glared evilly and knocked aside the attack with the metal rings wrapped around her left arm. Drawing back, she sent another Evil Wing attack flying at Birdramon. Suddenly though, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and leapt back just in time to avoid being skewered by an arrow fired by the newly digivolved Angewomon. Seeing that she was now beset by multiple foes, LadyDevimon unleashed a new attack. "Darkness Wave!" she cackled. A ring of black bats flowed out from her, spreading in all directions. Angewomon was able to burn most of them to a crisp with holy light, but Birdramon didn't fare as well, and the champion level digimon tumbled out of the sky.

"Birdramon!" shouted Sora worriedly. She was always heartbroken every time her friend was injured, and that attack had looked particularly nasty. Birdramon hit the ground hard with a dull thud, and lay there in the ground, struggling and failing to pick herself back up.

Meanwhile, Angewomon and LadyDevimon circled around each other in a ritual dance that would precede the fight between them. "This seems familiar," commented LadyDevimon.

"It does indeed," replied Angewomon, "I've defeated you before, and it'll happen here again." Her comment incensed LadyDevimon, who transformed her left arm into a lethal spear and jabbed it at her angelic foe. Angewomon countered by throwing up a pink shield of holy light, which absorbed the shock of the attack. Spreading her wings, she flew into the air and conjured up her mighty bow. Pulling the string back, she conjured an arrow of holy energy, which appeared in place on the bowstring. "Celestial Arrow!" she shouted as the weapon shot out from the bow.

LadyDevimon brought her arm up in a defensive posture, and the attack merely glanced off of the metal rings on her arm. She then went on the offensive, twirling the chain on her right arm until it picked up speed, then launching it at Angewomon. The evil weapon maliciously wrapped itself around her, and with a tug, LadyDevimon brought Angewomon crashing back to earth. As she lay on the cold asphalt, Angewomon struggled to free herself of the constricting chain, but was unsuccessful. No matter how much she wiggled and twisted, the bindings stayed painfully tight around her. This was remedied when LadyDevimon gave them another tug, and Angewomon went spinning as the chains unwound and were drawn back to their owner.

Free of her imprisonment, Angewomon struggled back to her feet, only to see LadyDevimon's vicious chain lashing out at her once again. With incredible speed, she shifted out of the way, then pointed her finger at her enemy and let loose a thin beam of light. Her attack lanced out and struck LadyDevimon in the chest, sending her reeling. While LadyDevimon was disoriented, she charged towards her, striking her in the gut. LadyDevimon gave a growl of irritation and brought her chain wrapped fist slamming into Angewomon's thigh. As she fell towards the ground, Angewomon headbutted her foe in a most unladylike manner, and both combatants went falling to the ground. There, they wrestled viciously, each of them intent on destroying the other for good.

A short ways away, Birdramon was finally making it to her feet after her injury. She spotted the two female digimon fighting on the street, and decided to do what she could to give Angewomon a crucial edge. Painfully, she spread her wings and took off into the air, until she found a spot to hover over the scene of the battle. She just hovered there, waiting for the ideal moment to attack.

Back on the earth, LadyDevimon and Angewomon continued to fight ferociously. They showed no mercy to each other, exploiting every possible opening with kicks, jabs, punches, knees and bites. Both combatants were sporting a plethora of minor injuries, but neither one was seriously injured yet. Angewomon left a scratch on the side of LadyDevimon's neck, but the demonic digimon grasped her wrist tightly and twisted it. The pain from the move forced Angewomon on her back, and she fell on the road, with LadyDevimon with an advantageous position on top. With her right hand, she grabbed Angewomon's throat, and slowly extended her left arm into its spear form. With a malicious grin, she prepared to impale Angewomon. Birdramon decided that now was the time to act.

"Meteor Wing!" cried Birdramon as she sent another flurry of fiery projectiles falling to the earth. LadyDevimon released her hold on Angewomon and hopped backwards out of the way as the projectiles hit the road, narrowly missing Angewomon. LadyDevimon was enraged at the loss of her opportunity to kill her hated adversary and chose to take it out on Birdramon. She whipped her chain out again, and it stuck Birdramon hard, lashing harshly on her back and knocking her out of the sky again. Or, at least it would have if the chain hadn't wrapped around her just as it had Angewomon. LadyDevimon reeled her in like a fish, and once she was near enough, she slashed at Birdramon with her lance-like arm. The blow cut deeply into her wing, leaving a bloody gash. As soon as LadyDevimon retracted her chain back in, she collapsed to the ground.

A call from behind her reminded LadyDevimon that she still had another enemy to deal with. "Heaven's Charm!" Angewomon called out as a brilliant cross of light erupted in the air and sped towards LadyDevimon. She leapt out of the way of the attack, and countered with an attack of her own.

"Darkness Wave!" she bellowed as a horde of bats erupted from her again. Angewomon summoned her shield of holy energy once again, but she remembered this trick of LadyDevimon's. She remained alert and sensed when LadyDevimon appeared behind her. Just as LadyDevimon lashed out to grab hold of her hair, she moved her head to the side and let loose a kick with her leg. The blow surprised LadyDevimon, who fell to the ground.

Summoning her bow again, Angewomon prepared to launch a final blow to end the fight, but LadyDevimon used her longer arm to rip the weapon out of her hands and send it flying away. Angewomon was startled at the turn of events, and LadyDevimon exploited her shock by unleashing a forceful double kick that sent Angewomon staggering back and eventually knocked her on her butt. Getting to her knees, LadyDevimon sent the chain flying out again, and grabbed Angewomon before hurling her into the injured Birdramon. The two collapsed in a tangled heap, and LadyDevimon slowly approached, with murder in her eyes.

"Finally," she gloated evilly, "finally I am victorious. Now, I can finally be rid of you irritating pests. You've caused me far too much pain over my three lifetimes. It's time I returned some of it to you." She took her time approaching, knowing the two were helpless to defend themselves against her now. As she neared, she extended her spear arm, preparing to finish them off once and for all.

"No!" cried Sora, "Don't hurt them! Stay away from them!" She was more afraid than she had ever been before as she saw that her partner was completely at LadyDevimon's nonexistent mercy. And, she realized that they would be next if their partners were killed. "Birdramon!" she frantically encouraged, "Get up! You have to digivolve or you'll be killed!" Birdramon struggled to heed Sora's pleas, but it was useless with Angewomon's weight on top of her. She couldn't get up until Angewomon did.

Kari was just as worried as Sora as she watched Angewomon lying injured on the ground. She knew how much LadyDevimon hated her, and was even more concerned about her partner's safety than she was with her own. Struggling to find a way to intervene and save her friend, she had a stroke of genius. "Get away from them you evil hag!" she yelled. LadyDevimon instantly turned, her attention captured by the human who had dared to insult her yet again. Realizing that she had LadyDevimon's attention, Kari played her trump card. "If you want to hurt someone," she yelled, "Come and get us, you ugly witch!"

That was the last straw. LadyDevimon gave a screech as she abandoned her attack on the digimon in order to destroy the accursed human. Kari was about to give a sigh of relief as her partners escaped their immediate danger, but was rudely jolted to her senses as she realized that she may not have thought her plan all the way through. As LadyDevimon rapidly closed the distance between them, Sora nervously stammered, "Uh, Kari? What do we do now?"

"Running seems like a good idea!" proclaimed Kari, and the two bolted off as quickly as they could. LadyDevimon continued to pursue them with single minded determination, as crazed as a rabid animal. All she wanted was to kill them and see their corpses. She continued to gain ground as Kari and Sora searched for the best way to go. Seeing the door of a nearby apartment, Kari called over to Sora, "This way!" They both flashed towards the door, and heaved a brief sigh of relief as they found it unlocked, as some inattentive tenant had accidentally forgotten to lock the door. They raced inside and slammed the door behind them, making sure that it clicked shut and locked itself. They knew that it wouldn't hold back their pursuer for too long, but they needed to buy all of the time that they could.

The door had opened into a small hallway, with doors lining the right and left sides, much like a hotel. A forceful pounding on the locked door reminded them of the danger they were in, and Kari and Sora continued their flight down the hall. They had reached a flight of stairs at the end and had begun to climb when LadyDevimon's claw tore through the door, rending it into pieces. With the obstruction out of the way, she tore through the hallway at breakneck speed, reaching the foot of the stairwell before Kari and Sora had made it all the way up. She grabbed at Kari's ankle, trying to pull her back down into striking range, but Kari gave a kick that managed to hit LadyDevimon in the face, sending her tumbling down a short distance.

The two girls reached the next floor and frantically tried all of the door handles, trying to find one that was unlocked. They could hear LadyDevimon rapidly approaching and knew that they couldn't outrun her if they went straight down the hallway. Finally, they found one and flung the door open. The apartment it led into was modest, with one main room, a small kitchen, a bathroom and one bedroom, and an elderly couple sat on the couch. They had clearly been watching television, but were now staring in shock at the two young women who had intruded into their home. Sora slammed and locked the apartment door and spoke, saying, "Find a place to hide. There's someone after us, and they won't be afraid to hurt you as well."

The couple nodded and scurried off to the bedroom. Kari and Sora headed for the window, planning to use it as an escape route. They threw the panel up and looked out. A spiral fire escape stairwell sat about three feet to the right of the apartment window. Sora gestured to Kari, "You go first." Kari nodded and worked her way carefully out of the window, struggling to keep her balance on the narrow ledge. "Now, jump to that set of stairs," Sora instructed. Kari took a deep breath and took a leap of faith, diving towards the stairwell. She landed solidly, managing to grab the structure with both hands, and pulling herself onto it fully.

Sora was next. Careful not to look down, she worked her way onto the window ledge. As she got there, the apartment door exploded as LadyDevimon arrived. Sora could hear a scream from the old lady in the bedroom and figured it was time for her to go. She jumped to the stairwell and grabbed it with one hand. "Climb Kari!" she shouted. The brunette girl heeded her words and began to climb as quickly as she could. Sora swung herself up with all of her strength, and made it firmly to the stairs, just as LadyDevimon reached out to grab her. The window was too small for LadyDevimon to easily slip through, so Kari and Sora made good use of the time it took her to get out by climbing up to the end of the stairwell. The escape terminated at one of the upper floor windows, and Kari found that it was locked.

LadyDevimon had now made it through the window, and smirked in evil glee as she saw that Kari and Sora had become stuck. She flew up towards them, and Kari did the only thing she could. Balancing precariously on one leg, she struck out with her foot, breaking the window. She dove inside, followed closely by Sora. The window led into another hallway, similar to the one on the first floor. However, this time all the doors were locked, as they discovered while desperately trying to find another way out. At the end of the hall, the door to the stairwell was locked, and could only be opened with an apartment keycard. They watched in horror as LadyDevimon entered the hallway and advanced towards them. They had no choice but to back up slowly towards the end of the hallway, where there was another window.

"I've got you now my pretties," LadyDevimon said as she moved closer and closer to the pair. She finally got to within three feet, and was ready to end the chase. She sported a crazed smile as she prepared to kill the two. Kari and Sora huddled together, preparing themselves for the inevitable. Suddenly, the window behind them shattered, and the wind flooded the new space, sending bits of glass flying at LadyDevimon. Hovering just outside was Angewomon. Birdramon was there too, but soon glowed as she digivolved into Garudamon. The two digimon had picked themselves up after their partners had led LadyDevimon away, and had tried as best they could to follow them. Seeing that they had become trapped on this floor, Angewomon had shattered the window with one of her arrows to distract the evil digimon and allow them to rescue their partners.

Angewomon released another arrow, which flew through and struck the disoriented LadyDevimon in the side, leaving a painful wound. While LadyDevimon was pinned down, Garudamon swooped in to pick up the two girls. "Hurry Sora," the ultimate level digimon urged. The two didn't need to be told twice, and jumped into Garudamon's enormous hands. The bird digimon veered to the right and gave Angewomon a clear shot at LadyDevimon.

Angewomon wanted the battle to be over as quickly as possible, and let loose another arrow, this time aimed directly at the center of LadyDevimon's mass. However, by now she had recovered slightly and tumbled to the side in order to avoid being hit. As she did so, she turned and bolted down the hall, leaping out of the shattered window and grabbing hold of Angewomon. The two went plummeting down to the ground once again.

Garudamon soared over to an isolated area nearby and dropped off Kari and Sora. "Wait here," she said in her deep voice, "We have to finish this." She then flapped her massive wings and took off back into the sky. Upon returning to the scene of the battle, she observed LadyDevimon and Angewomon once again going at it tooth and nail. Swooping down, she grabbed LadyDevimon with her hand and took off, as Angewomon followed closely behind. "Angewomon, destroy her while I have her trapped!" Garudamon called out.

Angewomon summoned another arrow and let it fly, with a shout of, "Celestial Arrow!" Unfortunately, LadyDevimon had slipped loose, and the arrow overshot its target. Free of her confines, LadyDevimon lashed out at Garudamon's hand, laying it open with her lance arm. The giant avian digimon gave a groan and winced in pain.

Angewomon had had enough. It was time for her to end the battle. LadyDevimon could get very predictable, and she had a very good idea of what she would do next. She also had an idea of how to counter it. As Angewomon thought, LadyDevimon whipped her chain out and sent it flying at her. However, she was ready and began to glow with holy light. "Heaven's Charm!" she shouted in a commanding voice. A wave of holy light emanated from her, washing over the chain, and disintegrating it into dust. LadyDevimon now had a look of fear on her face that replaced the look of rage that had previously been on there. Nevertheless, she continued to fight, even with one of her lethal weapons destroyed. She extended her spear arm and rushed at Angewomon, hoping to take advantage of her close range weapon.

Unfortunately for LadyDevimon, her fear and rage did not make for intelligent fighting. Her strikes were wild and easy to anticipate, as Angewomon weaved left and right, up and down to avoid the blows. At the same time, she took her bow out and began using it as a close range weapon, landing light blows all over LadyDevimon's body. Finally, she circle behind and used the bowstring like a garrote, attempting to strangle LadyDevimon, who was now in full panic mode. She thrashed wildly, and one of her blows finally knocked Angewomon off of her, enabling her to breathe once again. Before she could take advantage of her freedom however, Garudamon let loose an attack. "Wing Blade!" she cried out, as a fiery bird shaped blast blazed towards LadyDevimon, striking into her and sending her careening backwards. She had scarcely a moment to react when Angewomon fired another arrow at her, and was barely able to deflect it with her metal bands. She slowly backed up, trying to be ready for Angewomon's next attack, but also blinding herself to her other surroundings. As she took another step back, she found herself snatched up by Garudamon's hands.

Garudamon knew that she couldn't hold LadyDevimon for long, so she didn't even try to. Instead, she simply threw her forcefully into the brick wall of a nearby building. She collided with it with a crash as the brick cracked. The force of her impact had embedded her within the brick, rendering her helpless and immobile. She watched in terror as Angewomon rose up, with her bow at the ready. She tugged to try and get herself out, but she couldn't escape her trap quickly enough to avoid her fate. "Goodbye, LadyDevimon," Angewomon said coolly as she notched another arrow in her bow. LadyDevimon tried unsuccessfully to wriggle free one final time, and gave a whimper. Angewomon's arrow flew out straight and true, striking right through LadyDevimon's torso before exploding in waves of brilliant white light. LadyDevimon gave a silent scream as the energy waves reduced her to particles of data.

The two digimon soon regressed to their normal forms and sat on the ground, completely exhausted. Kari and Sora were soon running over to see if their partners were okay. "Gatomon!" yelled Kari, "Are you alright?"

"Biyomon!" Sora called out, "Are you there?"

"We're fine!" Gatomon replied tiredly, "But I don't think we'll be of much help to the others now."

"Why do you say that?" asked Kari. She really didn't care too much. Her friend was alive and just fine when she had just a moment ago feared that she would be killed.

"We're just completely exhausted," said Biyomon, "We can't digivolve again right now even if we wanted to. That fight took a lot out of us." Her stomach growled loudly as she spoke, and Biyomon appeared rather embarrassed. "Sora, do you have anything for me to eat? I'm starved after that fight."

Sora smiled warmly, "I'll find something for you to munch on. You two have definitely earned it." Before she could say anything else, the tranquil night silence was broken by the squeal of sirens in the distance. They were coming closer, and quickly. Sora looked over at Kari. "That couple must have called the police. We need to get out of here and quickly. Our best bet is to continue towards the convention center. We may not be able to help, but that's where everyone else will be heading."

Kari nodded, "Then we should get going." She turned towards the digimon; "Are you two strong enough to walk?" she asked. They nodded weakly. "Alright then, let's go," said Kari. The four hobbled off as quickly as they could towards an alleyway and resumed their trek towards the convention center, but this time staying off of the main roads, so that they wouldn't meet any police. Let's hope that the others are doing better than us, Sora thought.